


Incoming Call

by spacemagic



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Alternate Universe I suppose where Tali has Shadow Broker leet hacking skills, Drama, F/M, Friendship, UST, implied Talibrations possibly ooh, they were definitely flirting you have my word for it, ~unreesolved sexual tension~
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-30
Updated: 2015-07-30
Packaged: 2018-04-12 01:11:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4459559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacemagic/pseuds/spacemagic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Tali'Zorah finds Shepard on Freedom's Progress, she makes it a priority to contact everyone important enough to know and tell them the news: Shepard is alive. If it means trudging through piles of data and heavy encryption to track down the "missing" Garrus Vakarian, now better known as Omega's "Archangel", and giving him a call - she'll do it. </p><p>An imagined phone call between Tali and Garrus in the slim weeks between Shepard's revival and Garrus' rescue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Incoming Call

It was the third time he’d moved this month. The new apartment had two primary structural weaknesses – the east window, which would need to be broken and covered by a layer of kinetic shielding, and two remaining back-door supply routes through the basement, which would need two emergency shutters, one for each route. All other passages had been collapsed – would take months to find, let alone dig through. Should add another layer of encryption to the hidden door, just in case. Comms were restricted to only one carefully guarded terminal which responded to exactly three numbers – two informants, and a supplier. Unless the batarian that snagged him this grimy hole decided to sell him out – unlikely, given what happened to the last guy, and besides, most batarians with half-a-brain are pretty attached to their vital organs – he could probably expect to stay here for up to six months, if he kept his head down and bided his time without making a scene. Ha. He liked to tell himself that if he managed to wait a whole ten days this time before he snuck out and pissed off Omega’s next up-and-coming criminal overlord, his chances of survival would go up an entire 0.5%.

Well, it was something. Perhaps he should re-arrange the furniture again into a more defensive position just –

// INCOMING EXTERNAL CALL //

Ah. Must be Jax. Probably wanting to arrange a supply pickup. Strange that he’d be up at this time.

// INCOMING EXTERNAL CALL // CALLER ID: #ENCRYPTEDLOCATIONNODE#.070679 // TIME: 02:20 12.1.2185 TERMINUS STANDARD // INCOMING EXTERNAL CALL //

Wait. What. He didn’t recognise that ID –

A shrill beep interrupted any train of thought, followed by the monotone VI answer machine:

// You have reached a secure channel. Please state your name and purpose after the second tone to proceed. //

“Garrus! It’s Tali’Zorah vas Neema speaking – I have _urgent_ news –”

No way.

“ _Please_ answer. I better have reached you this time, it’s, well –”

She _must_ be joking.

“Garrus, I don’t want explain exactly how critical this is through an answer machine. Answer your damn comm.”

Or maybe she wasn’t joking.

“Tali. Is that really you?”

“ _Finally_ – yes of course it’s me you little bosh’tet I had to decrypt _fifteen_ external channels before _–_ ”

“How the _hell_ did you get hold of this number?”

Tali fell quiet.

Damn it.

What the hell was wrong with him? The first genuinely friendly voice he’d heard in months and now he was about to, as a human might say, “bite her ear off” – that is, if quarians had ears, that is, Garrus didn’t actually know and never thought it was appropriate to ask –

“Well - ” she began, interrupting his thoughts. “From, say, around two-hundred encrypted potential caller IDs, the hard bit was decrypting the last six digits. I got a VI to cross-reference existing records, rooting out the obviously fake records, then –”

“Actually,” Garrus began to speak before he could bite his tongue off, “it doesn’t really matter. So, why are you calling me Tali?”

A pause.

“Garrus, I–”

“Look – I’m sorry, it’s been a rough day. What did you need to tell me?”

Another pause. Well, she didn’t want to tell him. That much was obvious.

“It’s… it’s about Shepard. He’s alive.”

“I’m sorry?”

It wasn’t a question. Not really.

“I’m not joking, Garrus.”

She really wasn’t joking.

“Tali, correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m sure that we both watched Shepard’s head explode when he got spaced. Liara made us both a vid, because she’s so loving and macabre like that. I – how would that even be possible?”

“I don’t know – and _keelah_ , I remember that far _too_ well, you don’t need to remind me, _please_.” She sighed. “Hey, I know it sounds totally crazy. I thought I was hallucinating at first, I even double-checked my suit’s internal biochemistry just in case – but I _saw_ him, Garrus. I talked to him, even. It was really Shepard.”

“Okay, then I believe you.”

And he did. He did believe her. Tali’Zorah vas Neema would not call him at two in the morning – she’d probably figured out his location and checked the time zone, Tali was always thorough with a job – after spending weeks tracking him down to just tell him really bad jokes. She wasn’t like that.

“Although,” Garrus added, “Are you _sure_ he wasn’t actually some super-sophisticated VI of some kind? You know the ones I mean – the creepy types with authentic replica skin –”

“ _Please_. Garrus, I’m a quarian _._ That was the first thing I checked for. I did three different scans for energy readings or disguised emissions, and they simply don’t match a synthetic.”

“Right – did you sensors pick up anything else?”

“Well, I _did_ detect a large amount of cybernetic implants – which would make sense if someone was trying to rebuild his body from scratch. I don’t even want to think about how they managed to piece him together, though – he was such a mess.”

Someone. They. Garrus felt his mandibles twitch – something wasn’t right about this.

“Are you sure he couldn’t be some sort of “adjusted” clone instead, then? Perhaps with some kind of memory implants?”

“Oh, definitely not – those tend to be really imprecise, don’t they? Shepard seemed to have a better grasp of things than that. He could even remember those data packets we took from the Geth in the Armstrong Cluster, the ones he replicated for me, to help with my pilgrimage. Among other things.”

She obviously wasn’t telling him the other things.

“Should have asked him about where he got his driving license. Y’know. Just to double-check.”

“I think… well, I had other things on my mind.”

“Yeah – no kidding.” He swore he could hear her _smile_ across the audio channel. “ _Definitely_ double triple sure he’s not some kind of scarily life-like holo? Voice manipulators can surprise you, especially when they screw with automatic translators. Or maybe a fan got a bit – uh – carried away, with facial transplants – like imagine Conrad Verner but worse and –”

“No, I – ugh – where do you come up with all these _terrible_ examples?”

“Old horror stories from my time at C-Sec, mostly.”

“ _Mostly?_ ”

Well – mistaken identity was pretty commonplace on Omega. People would sell their bodies, their names and ID codes, for a few extra creds. It’d get them out of debt, and out of the system. They’d disappear into some half-built, beaten-down slum that smelt like sewage, watching someone else fly off wearing their face.

“Yeah – um, you don’t really want to know – look, you’re really not joking about this, aren’t you?”

“You think I’d joke about _this?_ About _Shepard?_ ”

“… no, I don’t think you would. I’m sorry, Tali. Again.”

“It’s… apology accepted, Garrus. I’m sorry, I’ve been on edge too – it’s been a bit crazy here, we’re in range of a comm. buoy for only so long, so I had limited time to get hold of you – ”

“You’re not with the fleet?”

“Well, technically, that’s classified information.”

“So, a secret reconnaissance mission, then? Lemme guess – geth space?”

Hmm. He _swore_ he thought he heard an exasperated sigh – barely restrained, even – or was it just signal failure? – the reception wasn’t the best, he couldn’t tell.

“It’s a _classified_ secret reconnaissance mission.”

“Which is in geth space?”

“Which, may or _may not_ be in geth space.”

“That’s close enough to geth space.”

“You’re _awful._ ” She started laughing – hell, what a throwback, it was like 2183 had hit him in the fringe, he could almost smell the paperwork – “I swear you didn’t used to be this bad, you used to be _so polite_ Garrus –”

“Oh, I wasn’t, really.” Well – perhaps to Shepard, but Shepard didn’t count. It was also probably something to do with being the least popular species of alien on an Alliance warship – not that he ever let those blue uniforms get to him. It was probably too honest an answer by a long way. “Anyway, I don’t doubt you’d kill me first before you reveal classified Migrant Fleet intel to me.”

“Try me.”

Oh, now _there_ was an interesting answer.

“Try? Well, I’d only _try_ from at least two hundred meters away. I know what you’re like with a shotgun.”

“Good,” she said, sounding far too smug for Garrus’ liking.

“Except, well, let’s be honest Tali, it wouldn’t really be _trying_ – I wouldn’t miss. That’s a promise.”

“Hm. You really think I’d really let you get that far away in the first place?”

Garrus peered over the balcony. There was only one way in – or out – and he had a clear shot at every bastard coming that way for at least two hundred meters.

“Nah,” he admitted. “You’re probably not that sloppy.”

“ _Probably, hmm?_ ”

Garrus glanced at his rifle leaning against the wall, at the packets of spare heat sinks thrown on the ground next to him, at the triple-encrypted doors she’d need to bypass beforehand, at the two hundred meters of clean, unstained walkway between him and his enemy – with preparation, no way she could get within fifty, she couldn’t get that close, to him, not possible –

“Garrus?” She said his name in a rather formal, I am Tali’Zorah vas LongQuarianName – which he’d noted, had changed now, daughter of an Admiral of the Migrant Fleet, sort-of-way – restraining, well, he supposed she was trying not to giggle. At him.

“Er, yeah, Tali?”

There was _definitely_ some subtext he was missing here.

“You know, you’re _only_ a dead turian if you start spreading around classified intelligence about a quarian cruiser – which may or may not be close to crossing the Perseus Veil.”

Well, he was right about one thing.

“Which,” she added, “I wouldn’t give to you in the first place.”

“Ah. Lucky me.”

She laughing – again. It was softer this time. Fuller. Spirits, did she laugh this much back on the Normandy? Not like he was paying attention anyway back then, between saving Shepard’s hide and finding the quickest route to blasting Saren’s brains out – it seemed like there was _always_ someone important that needed a rifle butt to the face first –

Garrus suddenly noticed that she wasn’t laughing anymore – or even speaking. There was silence, in fact. He didn’t want to fill it.

For what seemed like the longest time, there was a pause –

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to ramble on like that –”

“Tali, it’s not a problem – it’s nice to have a conversation which all isn’t about Shepard for once.”

“Or about intergalactic politics. In a stuffy elevator. On the _Citadel_ , no less – you think the most technologically advanced space station in the galaxy would have heard of decent air conditioning but _nooo_ –”

He shook his head, trying not to laugh. Damn, he’d missed her –

“–but it’s good to hear from you, Garrus, really. I’ve missed you.”

“Same goes for you, Tali. It’s been too long.”

Another long gap.

“So,” she began, “As for your whereabouts –

“Classified as it gets.”

A short pause.

“I was afraid that’d be the case.”

“It’s – complicated. Very messy. I don’t really want to get into it –”

“That’s fine.”

Hm. If this was Sol calling him – not that she’d call him, ever, she couldn’t possibly, thank the spirits – she’d immediately ask him if he was doing anything _stupid_. Are you doing anything stupid Garrus? The answer is yes.

He supposed Tali couldn’t ask him if he was in danger instead. After spending months together, chasing rogue-spectre-bent-on-galactic-destruction, the term ‘danger’ lost its potency. Of _course_ he was in danger. She was too – if her location was any kind of giveaway. Soldiers always were at risk. It was a case of how necessary –

“Are you… alright, Garrus?”

“Huh?”

“Garrus,” she paused, as if contemplating the best way to articulate this. “You’ve been off the grid for who knows how long.”

“Your point?”

It came out far more bluntly than he intended.

“Garrus – nobody knows how to get in touch with you.”

“It’s not like people tried to keep in touch –”

“Yes – I know – but I don’t know where you are. Nobody _knows_. Isn’t that a bit –”

God, she almost sounded like his sister. They weren’t even pretending to talk about Shepard anymore, were they?

“Tali, why are you so concerned about my whereabouts? I’m fine.”

Not really true, but still –

“Garrus, _please._ ” She sighed. “I know you’re obviously on an important mission of some kind–”

Okay, definitely not true –

“– I couldn’t imagine you doing anything else, I know you –”

I suppose she didn’t really. She couldn’t imagine it, not really, he didn’t blame her – the restrictions – the regulations – the amount of red tape it’d take to suffocate an entire city crawling with crooks and thugs, all of it. It was quite difficult to picture. She probably didn’t know what it was like, reading the dossiers of serial killers, sand dealers, abusers and users, the scum and the slime that profit off other people’s suffering, knowing they were still drawing breath in their lungs for a few hours more, and then having to place it in a neat little folder alongside organising local planning permissions and –

“I mean, I don’t know why else you’d be…”

So messed up? _Thanks_ , Tali, for the overwhelming vote of confidence –

“… never mind.”

A pause. Wasn’t this call supposed to be about Shepard? What wasn’t she talking about here?

“All I meant to say was this: are you happy, at least?”

“Tali, I –”

No, he could not complete that sentence. And so he left it hanging.

It might have gone on for several seconds.

“Garrus?”

Maybe even minutes.

// CALL DISCONNECTED //

“No, I don’t think I am.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> This one was interesting. I originally wrote a script for this, challenged myself to do a) decent dialogue-heavy writing, and b) accurate characterisation of two characters I like. It was based on an old KMeme prompt - where Tali excitedly calls all the old normandy crew.
> 
> It ended up losing steam as Tali explained the details such as Veetor, Cerberus, etc - like, I'd suddenly need to cut off tension. Conversations aren't cinematic dialogues, after all. So I cut it all out when I converted the script into prose. I suppose the result was less naturalistic than I'd like - and I'm not 100% sure about characterisation. Garrus and Tali have quite distinct, subtle voices. Any tips with them would help.
> 
> As for the Garrus/Tali hints - that wasn't actually intended, it just happened. They're two of my favourite characters. They have excellent chemistry. Why not? 
> 
> Thanks for reading! :)


End file.
